Letter: Drug culture having a serious impact on our young people

Santa Clara County Supervisor David Cortese's recent State of the County message shows that our kids are seriously and negatively impacted by today's drug culture, even though he did not state this in his message. His mention of drop-out rates, juvenile hall populations, and public health concerns undeniably speak to the abuse of drugs by our teens.

Letter: Drug culture having a serious impact on our young people

Ritalin tore my son and our family apart: From a best-selling children's author, a damning indictment of the ADHD drug

Few children look ­forward to homework. But when my son Haley was five, he’d hide under the ­dining table ­crying when it came to study time.

Ritalin tore my son and our family apart: From a best-selling children's author, a damning indictment of the ADHD drug

Debate Over Kids Vaccines Rages On

It's a difficult judgment call for many parents. Should they hand their baby to a doctor, trusting all the vaccinations he or she recommends will protect their child from getting sick? Many parents question if so many shots, nearly 30 by the time a child turns 2-years-old, are really necessary.

Australian experts meet to consider is ADHD ‘over-medicated’ or ‘a fraud’?

Australian experts meet to consider is ADHD ‘over-medicated’ or ‘a fraud’?

Australian experts meet to consider is ADHD ‘over-medicated’ or ‘a fraud’?

Australia’s first forum of psychiatrists, psychologists, educators, academics, researchers, politicians and other professions concerned about the large and growing number of children diagnosed with ‘ADHD’ and treated with drugs is being convened in Brisbane (7-8 February) by the Youth Affairs Network of Queensland (YANQ).

Military Families Seek Injunction Against Department of Defense Over Therapy Denied to Children With Autism

Military Families Seek Injunction Against Department of Defense Over Therapy Denied to Children With Autism

Military families have filed a motion for an injunction to mandate that the Defense Department's insurer, TRICARE, cover medically necessary care needed by military families' children with autism. The motion seeks a mandate that TRICARE cover the cost of Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, or ABA, which is effective in treating children with autism spectrum disorder.

Drugs not approved for children still being used to treat them

Drugs not approved for children still being used to treat them

Off-label and unauthorised drugs are still being prescribed, according to a European survey on use of medicines for children.

California panel is charged with protecting human medical test subjects

Thousands of human subjects are studied every year by California researchers hunting for clues to AIDS, autism, Alzheimer's, cancer and scores of other health challenges.

California panel is charged with protecting human medical test subjects

Too many drugs for teen mental patients?

Too many drugs for teen mental patients?

A new paper in the Wisconsin Medical Journal questions how frequently juveniles are being prescribed psychiatric medications in the state. The researcher, a child psychologist at Rogers Memorial Hospital in West Allis, reviewed 200 admissions to a state mental health facility in Madison. He found that for many of the boys, an important part of their treatment was weaning them off the multiple medications they had already been prescribed.

Teachers blamed for record number of children being prescribed 'chemical cosh'

Teachers have been blamed for the record number of children prescribed ‘chemical cosh’ drugs such as Ritalin.

Teachers blamed for record number of children being prescribed 'chemical cosh'

Seizures Reported After Kids’ Flu Shot, Federal Officials Investigating

Federal health officials are looking into reports of an uptick in febrile seizures after children ages 6 months to 2 years were given this year’s seasonal flu shot Fluzone, made by drug manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis.

Seizures Reported After Kids’ Flu Shot, Federal Officials Investigating

Lost in the madhouse: Three stories of involuntary commitment

Erik* was not familiar with the expression “Baker Act’d” the night a college psychologist came to his dorm room, woke him up, and took him to a nearby hospital. In fact, Erik didn’t realize anything was wrong until police handcuffed him, put him in the back of a police cruiser, and took him to a mental health facility at the county jail.

Lost in the madhouse: Three stories of involuntary commitment

Obamacare Shreds Mental Health Care

As the House of Representatives debates a bill to repeal Obamacare and start over, the Left will invoke the tragedy in Tucson as a reason to keep the law in place. Liberal bloggers and some patient groups are claiming that states are already cutting mental health budgets to balance budgets, Arizona among them. They will claim that overturning Obamacare, which offers mental health benefits through an expansion of Medicaid, would only deepen the danger. The New Republic's Jonathan Cohn provides the familiar liberal narrative: "We may never know whether a better mental health care system would have averted this massacre. But we can be sure that it would avert some future ones."

Obamacare Shreds Mental Health Care

UK Finally Makes Smart Decision to Protect Children… Why Doesn’t the US?

Ministers of parliament and senior advisers in the UK government ruled against the flu vaccine for children under 5. This decision comes even though a flu epidemic is currently striking the UK.

UK Finally Makes Smart Decision to Protect Children… Why Doesn’t the US?

Side Effects of Adderall

If your child has ADHD, they may have been prescribed Adderall for treatment. Before you fill this prescription, you should know the side effects of Adderall. While you may still decide to take it, it's best to go into it with open eyes so that you will know what to expect.

Side Effects of Adderall

Oregon Sues Johnson & Johnson Over Alleged Secret Motrin Recall

The state of Oregon has filed a lawsuit against drug maker Johnson & Johnson, claiming the company secretly removed defective Motrin from store shelves, which authorities say may have put the public at risk.

Oregon Sues Johnson & Johnson Over Alleged Secret Motrin Recall

The Amoral, Psychiatric--Pharmaceutical Victimization of Foster Children in the United States of America

Foster children are unfortunates without parents and families, not a medical population—not victims of a disease or epidemic. I would add here that increasingly, foster children are children “kidnapped” by government—by child protective services and family courts, their parents having had the audacity to resist the psychiatric labeling and drugging and having been charged with “medical neglect” for their audacity.

The Amoral, Psychiatric--Pharmaceutical Victimization of Foster Children in the United States of America

PBS Reports Drugging of Foster Care Kids

Antipsychotics are the top-selling class of drugs in the United States, with sales of $14.6 billion in 2009 alone. Their use in children and adolescents in the United States is increasingly prevalent — and children in foster care are among the most likely to be medicated.



PBS Reports Drugging of Foster Care Kids

FYI: PBS tonight – The Watch List: The medication of foster children

On this week’s episode of Need to Know, we go inside the foster care system for an installment of The Watch List: We investigate the use and potential overuse of powerful antipsychotic medication on foster children, with a special look at Texas, which has worked to reform its practices. (for future archive)

FYI: PBS tonight – The Watch List: The medication of foster children

Atypical Antipsychotic Medication Evidence Called into Question

Atypical Antipsychotic Medication Evidence Called into Question

Despite their widespread advertising, prescriptions and use, atypical antipsychotic medications — the newest kind of antipsychotic medication available — lacks sufficient evidence to support their widespread and generalized usage. This according to a new study out of the Stanford University School of Medicine and University of Chicago.

What is happening in our society that we need to drug five-year-old children?

A report in today’s newspaper says that children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD) can’t switch off the default mode network (DMN) in their brains, the daydreaming function. Stimulant drugs such as methylphenidate may help to switch off this DMN, turn down the volume, as it were, and enable the ADHD sufferer to focus on a task.

What is happening in our society that we need to drug five-year-old children?

Ritalin Dangers Known, Still Being Prescribed To Treat ADHD

Although many experts have warned about the dangers of children using stimulant drugs like Ritalin frequently, doctors continue prescribing these drugs at an alarming rate.

Ritalin Dangers Known, Still Being Prescribed To Treat ADHD

Ritalin use is on the rise

Production of the drug Ritalin has increased ten-fold over the past decade, yet “Fidgety Phil” isn’t the only taker.

Originally prescribed to children considered to be hyperactive, Ritalin is also used as a doping agent and even as a party drug.

Ritalin use is on the rise